Because I know we're friends
by Airanke
Summary: Akatsuki one-shots. All about friendships. DISCONTINUED.
1. Chapter 1

Universe: Naruto

Friendship between: Kisame and Itachi

Summary: Itachi goes blind in the middle of a battlefield. What will Kisame do?

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**Chapter 1: Listen to my voice**

The field was littered with bodies; shinobi were still fighting. They were from all the different villages, fighting for who knew what. All Itachi knew was that he was on one side of the battlefield and the rest of the Akatsuki were on the other side.

They had managed to get to the other side by running recklessly from the forest to the cliffs. What had surprised most of them was the fact that the shinobi hadn't tried to attack them that much, so as far as the Akatsuki were concerned they were just on the outside of a whirlpool: there, but not pulled in. Yet. All of them arrived safely except for Deidara, who suffered a major injury. Tobi had to carry him and dodge attacks from all sides; directed at him or not.

Itachi was pulled out of his analysis when someone noticed him and charged. He silently cursed and deflected the man's attack before kicking him in the stomach, sending him flying back into the main battle. Itachi quickly scurried up a tree.

_'I need to get over there,' _he looked over at the cliffs and squinted, spotting Kisame stalking around, probably irritated at the leader. Hidan was tapping the butt of his scythe impatiently against the ground, and randomly sneered at shinobi trying to get up the cliff to the plateau that the Akatsuki were on. Pein kept on repelling them, determined to keep them away. The shinobi had all but forgotten about them now.

Itachi jumped out of the tree and started across the battlefield, wary of where Konoha shinobi were.

"Hey, Itachi-san's coming over now!" Tobi announced to no one in particular. Kisame perked up and crouched, batting away a kunai that had been thrown at him. He growled and scoured the field for Itachi, spotting him right before he disappeared behind a rock.

_'Hiding, eh? Good call, Itachi, good call...'_ he frowned when Itachi leapt out moments before the rock was destroyed. So someone had known he was there. Go figure.

Suddenly Itachi paused in mid-run, staring at something. A vicious water based technique hit him, sending him back. Konan actually cried out, and Deidara released a startled gasp – Kakuzu was tending to the gashes on his legs. Kisame blinked, _'did Itachi just get hit?'_ then stood and walked swiftly over to Hidan, who had stopped his tapping and was staring at Itachi in surprise. If anyone would be able to figure out what was wrong, Hidan was the one who would know.

"Blind...?" he heard the immortal mutter in a confused voice. Kisame stopped dead in his tracks, staring.

"He's... gone blind?"

Itachi didn't understand why everything around him suddenly turned black. Pitch black. In a moment of stupidity Itachi paused, and a blast that he had sensed coming hit him. He felt the water cut him in places, and he quickly flipped backwards, using the water as leverage. When he landed, he stumbled. This caused him to grit his teeth. Itachi was not used to not being able to see. He blinked, thinking it was a technique.

His sight did not return to him.

Itachi panicked, not knowing what to do for the first time in his life. He spread his chakra out in a web around him, sensing shinobi that were charging toward him from all sides. In the distance he heard a voice, a voice he recognized. Blind eyes widened and he strained to hear as the shinobi drew closer.

"_Jump, Itachi!!"_

Itachi leapt into the air, effectively dodging the shinobi. He landed on their bodies and kicked off them, flipping in the air and landing on the ground. He strained his ears hard as he sprinted forward, in the direction of the cliffs.

"Listen to my voice, Itachi! Listen to _me!_" the voice boomed across the battlefield, over all the other voices, and Itachi knew who it was.

_'Kisame...'_ Itachi was in slight disbelief. He had never really thought that his partner had cared about him that much, and he listened hard to that grating voice. He listened and obeyed, and it occurred to him that he and Kisame had switched rolls; Kisame now led, and Itachi followed. The thought would've made him chuckle at earlier stage in his life.

He heard the command to roll to the right and so he did, and felt the whooshing wind left behind by the blade that would have passed through him. He lost his footing however, and tumbled forward.

"Roll forward!" Itachi somersaulted forward, the earth shaking behind him where either a heavy fist or a heavy blade had landed. Itachi didn't care, though, as he scurried forward to get to his feet, his jaw clenched. He didn't like not being able to see. He didn't like not being able to fend for himself.

Commands came and were obeyed, and as Itachi felt himself drawing nearer to the cliffs, he felt himself weaken. He was tired, and his disease was getting to him again. He needed his medicine – medicine that Kisame had.

"Go to you left, Itachi! Left! _Left! Your other left!"_

_'Oh...'_ Itachi pulsed chakra into his feet and sprung in the proper direction, a wind technique missing his foot by a mere millimeter. Kisame's voice was a lot clearer now; a lot closer. Itachi could determine where the cliffs were. He slammed his body right into them and stretched his hands up, searching for a ledge, _anything_ that he could grab onto.

"Hidan! Scythe! Do something damn it!"

Earth from the cliff showered on Itachi and he flung his right arm out to the side, hitting Hidan's scythe solidly with his palm. He felt up along the staff with both hands, trying to climb it.

_'Left foot on the first blade, hoist yourself up!'_ he urged himself. Kisame was talking to him in a quieter voice, and suddenly Pein yelled and Itachi scrambled. A large hand grabbed the forearm of the arm he extended, just as someone grabbed his leg and tried to jerk him down.

Hidan, however, was a lot stronger, and Itachi assumed, by the sound of gratitude from Kisame, that Kakuzu was the reason why the person who had latched onto Itachi's leg had let go. Hidan easily jerked Itachi up, even though another brave soul had grabbed his leg. The splattering sound that reached Itachi's ears after the sound of the scythe being yanked upwards told him that the person was as good as dead.

A moment later he collided with a sturdy body that fell to the ground. He flailed his arms, finding a face and hair, figuring out who it was by touch.

"Kisame," he croaked, spewing a little bit of blood, "my... pills..." he coughed.

Kisame was rustling around in his cloak by the sound of it, and soon two fingers pressed two pills to Itachi's lips. Itachi opened his mouth and Kisame popped them in, before bringing a flask of some sort to Itachi's lips. Itachi drank thirstily. After Kisame had pulled the flask away Itachi rested his head against Kisame's shoulder, too tired to move. The larger man didn't complain, and a dainty hand touched Itachi's head.

"He'll be fine, Konan-san," he heard Kisame say quietly. Konan stroked Itachi's hair once, then moved away, most likely to talk to Hidan. He heard their quiet voices a moment later before he dozed off.

When Itachi awoke again it was cooler outside, and he was moving.

_'Kisame is... carrying me?'_ this surprised Itachi and when he shifted, he found it to be true. Kisame slowed his pace a little, "do you want me to set you down, Itachi-san?"

"... not yet. And don't call me Itachi-san. Anymore."

Itachi felt Kisame tilt his head in confusion from his place on Kisame's back and he explained, "you... saved my life."

Kisame "hm"ed and continued forward at a faster pace when Tobi called out his name. They probably still had a ways to go to get to a village that would be willing to house them. Before he dozed off again Itachi felt compelled to utter one last phrase to Kisame.

"Thank you."

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Yeah. I'm taking a break from Innocence, because chapter 9 and 10 are gonna' come really fast. And because I wanted to get this out of my system and posted =). Hope you liked 3!


	2. Chapter 2

Probably a little bit confusing. I don't know if you'll be able to tell who's who at the very beginning, but hey, tell me what you thought before I revealed who was who =) Uh, I'll be doing one AU and one Naruto universe friendship story for all the partnerships ^^

Universe: Alternate

Friendship between: Kakuzu and Hidan (no summary)

_Italics_ = present time

Non-italics = flashback.

_'blah' _= Thinking.

_"blah" _= talking.

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**Chapter 2: Switch Roles**

_They stared at each other through the glass, both shocked at seeing what the other had become._

"Hidan, don't you know how to tie your shoes?" he asked during recess one day, staring down at the albino boy who sat on the ground, feet out and the laces untied. Violet eyes stared up at him, wide and misty before Hidan looked down in something akin to shame, "no..."

Kakuzu sighed and knelt down, reaching for Hidan's shoelaces and deftly tying them together in a bow. He doubled them to make sure they wouldn't come undone. He tugged the smaller boy to his feet, and walked away while Hidan brushed his silver hair out of his eyes.

_'That was when we were in grade on.'_

"Ah, Kakuzu, could you um... could you... teach me this?" he muttered, his voice slowly decreasing in audibility. Vibrant green eyes stared at him, making him feel small. Math had never been a strong subject for Hidan, and the fact that his best friend was staring at him like he was worthless didn't make the nine year old feel any better.

"... okay. Sit."

The way Kakuzu said it made Hidan feel worse as he sat down, pulling out his textbook and waiting to be yelled at. Kakuzu had never been a very patient nine year old.

_A small smile stared at the corner of the taller one's mouth, 'Grade three. What a horrible year.'_

The start of high school was a bit of a turning point, because Kakuzu walked up to him, thrust a hand in his hair and leaned down a bit – he was taller, after all – before chiding, "you really need to do something with your hair. It's getting in your eyes," before straightening and walking off. The next day Hidan came to school with it slicked back, and immediately became the talk of the whole class, girls sighing when he walked by.

_'What a year. Grade seven was as crazy as grade seven gets.'_

Grade nine, however, was probably the only time Kakuzu ever needed his help. When it came to being creative in English Kakuzu had no idea what to do. He wasn't good at writing poetry. So when Kakuzu went up to him, he just set the rubric down in front of Hidan, making the albino jump. Kakuzu said nothing, too embarrassed to admit he didn't know what to do.

"You – you need help?"Hidan's voice was full of disbelief. Kakuzu merely nodded, staring in envy at Hidan's fully colored project, silver pen on maroon paper with paper cherry blossoms pasted on it – pink, red and white - fitting the poem Hidan had written, with words Kakuzu had never known the supposed "dunce" could even use.

_They continued to stare, one unnerved the other disgruntled._

_'When did you get to this point in your life? What's gotten into you?' they both thought at the same time_

Ever since the day Hidan had first slicked back his hair in grade seven the girls never left him alone. Kakuzu felt for the first time in years lonely, but because of his pride he wouldn't admit it. He was pleased, though, whenever Hidan decided that studying for a test was more important then going on a date, and came to find him. That always made Kakuzu feel good, and though he never showed it Hidan knew it.

By grade twelve they were complete opposites; one studious with the highest grade, the other submitting to the influence of alcohol, peers, and parties.

When they graduated they went their separate ways, one stumbling and falling the other excelling.

_Now standing on one side of the glass, vibrant green eyes stared in utter shock into brilliant violet. He was taller now. He stood taller. He looked way different – like something amazing had happened in his life that he now hoarded and made his own. He looked down and saw a ring upon his ring finger; a small silver band – engaged._

_On the other side of the glass the smile on the violet eyed man's face faded to a grim line. He was stunned to silence for once, staring at his best friend, wondering what had happened to him that had caused something like this to occur. He followed the green eyes to his hand, and his smiled returned. He spoke._

"_What happened to your excellence?"_

_The question was spat back, "when did you go from being a junkie to a sophisticated man?"_

_Violet eyes gazed upon his friend, seeing the tattoos, the scars, the hate in those green eyes. The surgically edited sclera – either that or his eyes were bloodshot. Even the way he stood was different, the confident way in which he'd carried himself completely gone. He shook his head._

_Likewise green eyes stared in envy – like he often had – at the sophisticated suit being worn, the confidence gained, the gentle look to those originally hard, angry eyes. The hair was the same but the attitude was different, the was he carried himself was different._

"_What the hell happened to you that ruined your life, Kakuzu? I thought you were going to go to University. I thought I was the one who had it bad."_

"_I guess you thought wrong. Things don't always work out the way you want them to. I gave up. I couldn't stand it anymore."_

"_Why are you here?"_

"_... I killed somebody."_

"_..."_

"_He got in my way. But how about you, Hidan? Why the hell are you_

_so damn happy?"_

"_I met a girl. She changed my life. She turned me around. I changed for her, you know? When you have someone to change for it's easier. I gave up smoking. I gave up clubs and parties and drinking just for her. And now we're engaged."_

_A sad expression comes across Hidan's face, "I was looking for you._

_I want you to be there Kakuzu. I want you to be my best man."_

_Kakuzu is shocked by this, "what? M-me? B-best man?"_

_It's the first time Hidan has heard Kakuzu stutter and he laughs, "yeah,you. You think I'd choose anybody else? I'd say you were fucking crazyto think I'd choose someone else."_

_Some cops walk in, and pull Kakuzu out from behind the glass so that_

_he stands next to Hidan on the other side, in the free world._

"_Why -"_

"_I bailed you out, dumbass. Now come on. I've gotta' get you lookin'...somewhat presentable. My wedding's in two weeks, seriously."_

"_Two weeks?"_

"_Two weeks to get yourself clean, Kakuzu."_

_Kakuzu laughs – it's the first time Hidan's heard it. He slings his arm_

_around Kakuzu's shoulders and Kakuzu does the same._

"_It's you and me pal. And my girl."_

"_Just like old times."_

_Hidan smiles, wide, genuine, true. It's contagious; Kakuzu smiles too._

"_Just like old times."_

_

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_Hope you enjoyed it, and I hope it's not too confusing. Oh, and tell me who you think the girl is heehee!


	3. Chapter 3

Half a page. Shortest I've ever written in my life. Absolutely no inspiration *goes to work on other things*

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**Chapter 3: I have bombs (and I'm not afraid to use them)**

"What does this do?"

"Explodes into a million colors."

"What does this do?"

"... Explodes into some sort of design, yeah."

"What does _this_ do? Tobi likes this one!" a black gloved hand closed around the statue of a small cat figure. Deidara could've sworn that a vein in his head had just exploded. The last thing he needed was for Tobi to start messing around with all his explosives.

So he inconspicuously sent some exploding ants up Tobi's leg as he explained, "the cat? Oh, it just kind of sits there and looks pretty, yeah. I mean, that's the only statue I made that I didn't put any of my chakra into so it won't blow up."

"Can Tobi keep it?" the hole in the orange mask turned to Deidara. The explosives expert glared and Tobi gingerly set the cat back down. He stiffened then, and looked down at his legs. Then he panicked.

"Senpai! There's ants crawling all over Tobi!" Tobi started to jump around, trying to get the ants off. Deidara merely laughed.

_'They aren't going to really hurt him anyway,'_ he made a couple of hand signs and then said, with a manic grin, "_katsu."_

"AIIIIIEEEEEEEEEE!!! SEEEENNNNPPPPAAAAIIIIII!!"

Deidara just fell over laughing, the ants bursting into brilliant displays of color – too small to do any damage, maybe just to tickle a little.

Deidara finally recovered, to find that Tobi was standing in the oddest pose ever, staring at the blonde. Deidara stifled his laughter and picked up the butterfly that Tobi has first grabbed. He brought it to life and set it to flying around Tobi's head. He wiggled his visible eyebrow at the masked man.

"I have bombs. And you should be very scared, yeah."


	4. Chapter 4

**It's the end, it's the end.**

_Bang. _A fist slammed against the metal desk.

_Bang._ Again the fist came down until the only sound through the entire base was the banging of frustrated fists on the desk. The other Akatsuki members began to get very, very irritated. Kakuzu started muttering about how he couldn't concentrate with all the mindless banging.

"I wonder what Hidan's going to do about it," Itachi commented dryly. There was a very loud bang next. Kakuzu and Itachi exchanged a look, then sighed when the immortal emerged from his room, pulling his cloak on. He stared down the hall, a very strange expression on his face.

"... never seen you make that face before, Hidan."

Hidan flipped Kakuzu off, thrusting his other arm through its appropriate sleeve. Kisame walked up behind him and arched an eyebrow, flipping up Hidan's collar. Hidan just nodded his head, listening.

"What are you -"

"Shut up, Kakuzu. Seriously."

Kakuzu narrowed his eyes and gave Kisame a look. The shark nin shrugged and whispered, "how the heck am _ I _supposed to know what's going on."

After two minutes of silence, Hidan spoke, "someone's crying, seriously."

All heads turned to him, and Tobi popped out of the kitchen, "crying, Hidan-san?"

"Yes, Tobi," Hidan confirmed, a bit of exasperation in his tone. He started off down the hall, stopping every now and again to listen.

--

Finally Hidan reached the room that no one had dared go into since the member had died. And that had only been two days ago.

Hesitantly Hidan reached – even he'd been afraid of what might be discovered in that room. Even Zetsu hadn't wanted to go in the room, claiming the stench repelled him.

Hidan cracked the door open and almost vomited on the spot the stench was so stomach wrenching. No wonder the Jashinists supported being clean and cleaning up after they made a mess. He smell of rotting bodies was over-whelming.

He would have turned around and left if it hadn't been for the helpless sob that came from inside. He pushed the door fully open, not knowing who to expect.

And it wasn't who he would have expected, anyway.

Deidara sat at the desk, what was left of his two arms just hanging by uselessly. There were obvious tears running out of his visible sea-green eye, his mouth twisted in a broken frown. The blonde took no notice of the immortal, turning his head so that his forehead was against the desk. Hidan was about to speak when Deidara raised his head sharply and brought it crashing back down on the desk.

Hidan's eyes went wide – and just when did he care – as Deidara repeated the action, making the banging sound start all over again. After Deidara's head touched the desk for a sixth time Hidan rushed forward and ceased Deidara's movements by shoving his hand in the path of Deidara's head.

"Stop it, Deidara! Oh, Jashin, stop it!" he attempted to pull Deidara out of the chair but the blonde struggled violently. Even without his arms attached yet – kakuzu had yet to get around to that – he put up quite a fight. Hidan eventually made him stop by hugging the blonde to his chest.

If Deidara had arms, Hidan was pretty sure that Deidara would be clinging to him right now.

"What're you going to get outta' his death if your banging your head around, seriously?" Hidan asked as kindly as he could. It had never occurred to anybody that Sasori's death would affect Deidara this much. Deidara wiggled out of Hidan's loose grasp and sat back down on the chair, staring at his lap. Hidan stared down at him.

"Let it out, then."

Deidara stared up at Hidan then, tears just running down his face in torrents, "do you know what it's like, to be unappreciated for everything you do and then have the one person that actually acknowledged you taken away? Do you know what that's like?"

Now, Hidan didn't want to say yes because that might prompt an argument, and he didn't want to say no because that would be a lie. So he just stared at Deidara.

The blonde must have realized that Hidan wasn't going to respond. He must have realized that Hidan just wanted him to talk, because he continued, "I know Sasori mocked me, yeah, and I know he wasn't the nicest guy in the world but he still cared! I cared about him too, y'know, and – and he did appreciate what I did; he really did! He just wouldn't admit it. Because I looked up to him, yeah. Maybe he didn't want to lose that respect I had in him," Deidara rubbed his face against his shoulder, "he wouldn't have lost it anyway. And now. Now his is all that's left of him! This – this unfinished _junk_ this – this stench, these bodies! _This is the only memory left of him!_"

Deidara fell forward, screaming and Hidan just caught him before he hit the ground and just held him because Deidara wanted to be comforted and if he could find comfort in the immortal he'd take it; whatever little bit he could get. Hidan had never been good at comforting people. No, Kisame was much better at that.

"Come on, Deidara. Sometimes it's better to just let them go, seriously. Now don't get mad. I know it's kinda' bad to tell you that, 'cause you're upset. But, please, Deidara, for your own damn health," he pulled the reluctant blonde out of the room, leading him down the hall where Kisame waited curiously.

"Let's get your arms back on, and you can drink your heart out with Kisame," Deidara smiled at this and hurried a little more quickly down the hall. Hidan grinned and continued toward his room, leaving Deidara to the others. As he closed his door Deidara's eye caught his and Hidan muttered, "just don't wallow in grief, seriously."


End file.
